Well, here we go...100 gallons. Walk me through it?!

[jarteta97]

Extra's always best! . . . unless you have a lack of storage

[BCollie]

Extra's always best! . . . unless you have a lack of storage

I'm sure I'll have some kind of side-project going on with this vivarium such as growing baby plants, etc. so I'm sure the extra ABG substitute will come in handy! I'll just keep the extra in a five gallon bucket(or two..or three...) in my garage.

[BCollie]

An update:

I AM FINISHED WITH THE BACKGROUND. Thank goodness!! I think I've probably spent 18+ hours on it at this point. It was about a 12 hour project at the point when the foam started melting. Then I had to do 3 coats of polyurethane, at 1.5-2 hours per coat that's 18 hours. And that doesn't include the several hours I've spent running around to stores getting everything needed for it. So I'd say this is a 20 hour project. I think it came out nice, though - just a little bit too shiny for me, but not horribly. The polyurethane was satin, not matte, so that's why. I think it will have a nice wet-looking shine to it when it's in the vivarium. I still have a little work to do on it...but nothing that's going to be painstakingly boring like applying polyurethane for hours on end was. It is drying in the garage right now with a fan on it to get rid of the polyurethane smell. All that's left to do...put it in the tank, then hot glue it together with my low-temp hot glue gun. Note to self: Test on a spare piece of foam, first!! Then after I have my substrate in, with the background hot glued into one big piece, I can add moss to it.

I went to Petsmart today looking for a humidity gauge(hygrometer) and walked away empty handed...so I went to Petco, which was right down the street, and found one for $6. It had good reviews on Amazon(4 out of 5 stars) so we'll see how well it works. If it doesn't seem to be working right I will order a higher rated one from Amazon. However I am looking on Amazon right now and it seems all the highest rated humidity gauges average 3.5-4 stars so maybe the one I got is as good as it gets. We'll see! I should pick up a second one to compare them against each other.

I bought a 1 gallon sprayer for misting down the vivarium until I can afford an automatic misting system.

I need more charcoal to make my ABG substitute...Orchard Supply Hardware had 2 bags, I needed 5. Thankfully they're getting in more tomorrow or the day after.

I found Sheet Moss!! They had it at Petco, believe it or not. It's in a baggie on my couch right now with all of my other stuff for this project. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do with it... It was only $5 so I thought I'd buy it. It's a small portion, a bit bigger than my hand, but it's probably cheaper than paying shipping from ordering online. I'm not sure if I'm going to attach it to the background, wood, or just let it rest on the substrate...

I found some awesome Oak branches. Oak is safe to use in a vivarium, if I remember right? But...how would I sanitize pieces that are 3-4+ feet long?? I can't boil or bake them, obviously, they're too big.

[BCollie]

**marks new expenses
EXPENSES as of Oct 8th
**1-gallon sprayer/mister: $10
**Hygrometer $6
2 large pieces of thick Plexiglass for vivarium cover, $6
Enough polyurethane to last the rest of my life, $16
Non-toxic acrylic paint and paint brushes, $7
Clear, Matte Finish Krylon Spray Paint, $5
Fiberglass window screen $5
1.5cf river pebbles $15
Three 2x2 foam panels $16
Low Temp Hot glue gun&glue: $8
Quilt Batting: $8
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean: $5
**Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark): $83
**Plants: $18
Total spent so far: $208
Remaining: $13

EXPENSES as of Oct 7th
2 large pieces of thick Plexiglass for vivarium cover, $6
Enough polyurethane to last the rest of my life, $16
Non-toxic acrylic paint and paint brushes, $7
Clear, Matte Finish Krylon Spray Paint, $5
Fiberglass window screen $5
1.5cf river pebbles $15
Three 2x2 foam panels $16
Low Temp Hot glue gun&glue: $8
Quilt Batting: $8
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean: $5
Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark): $74
Plants: $13
Total spent so far: $178
Remaining: $43

EXPENSES as of Oct 5th/6th, 2014
Non-toxic acrylic paint and paint brushes, $7
Clear, Matte Finish Krylon Spray Paint, $5
Fiberglass window screen $5
1.5cf river pebbles $15
Three 2x2 foam panels $16
Low Temp Hot glue gun&glue: $8
Quilt Batting: $8
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean: $5
Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark): $74
Plants: $13
Total spent so far: $156
Remaining: $38

(see previous page for older expenses)

[LisaGarcia]

Put them in a CLEAN tub that's been freshly scrubbed with bleach and rinsed EXTREMELY well. Pour LOTS of rolling boiling hot water on them. That is what I had to do for the 3' bamboo pieces. Took 3 giant (I used the tamale steamer pot) pots of water to properly cover them all.

As for the actual use of Oak, I can not say yea or nay. Someone else will have to help you there.

[BCollie]

I will have to see if we have a big enough tub!!

I am rinsing off the drainage layer(river rocks) right now as they're muddy. Got the first bag rinsed off, testing the hot glue gun on foam, then heading to class.

[DigitalPunk]

Not that you want to add any more coats to the background, but if the shine is a pain point for you you can do another really thin coat and sprinkle river sand or aquarium sand over it to help dull the look some and give it some texture.

If nothing else for the wood you can douse it in a really strong bleach solution and then rinse it with tap water really well then rinse it with dechlorinated tap water really really good.

[BCollie]

Good idea. Can I just use a scrub brush dipped in a bleach solution?Do the river rocks need to be bleached? They were muddy but I rinsed them clean with the hose.

[LisaGarcia]

I bleached my rocks. You could also boil them if you didn't want to bleach them.

[BCollie]

I don't like to boil or bake rocks because there's a (small) possibility that it can cause them to explode. Not a chance I will take!
SO if I use bleach it should be 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, so 1 gallon of bleach in 10 gallons of water? That sounds like a lot

[BCollie]

OH! Also, in addition to my last question...how am I supposed to drain the drainage layer when it gets full?

[DigitalPunk]

I always boil my rocks. Video tape the boiling. If it explodes put it on youtube and make some money . The instances I have heard about rocks exploding is due to them being wet and then heated rapidly. The steam is what causes the explosive reaction. So boiling them removes any of those factors from the equation.


Draining the drainage layer. Go look at Bills Solitude build. He shows off the way he drains his tanks. That is also how I do it, but lately I have been drilling my tanks and putting in a drain so it empties itself as it gets full

[BCollie]

I already have the rocks soaking in 5 gallons of water with 1/2 gallon of bleach...so no boiling this time!

I looked at his Solitude build and didn't see how he drains the drainage layer? Maybe I just missed it?

It seems like sticking a piece of black painted PVC pipe down into the drainage layer so it's poking just above the substrate would work...that way you can just put a siphon down into the tube and siphon out water, then cap it off when it's not in use. Or is there a better way to do it?

[DigitalPunk]

Bill uses small airline tubing, He puts a standard sponge filter down in the drainage layer and has his air tubing inserted into it. He also puts a small valve on the end of the tube outside the tank. The valve allows him to start his siphon one time and then close the valve thus preserving the siphon for when you need it again . Remember you want to keep you drainage layer around 1/2 or more of water (just dont let the water touch the soil). The small diameter of the airline tube makes it super easy to conceal.

[BCollie]

That would be an awesome thing to do on a smaller tank...I don't have the patience to wait for a ton of water to drain through airline tubing though LOL. I have a 8" piece of PVC pipe and a cap that I'm going to paint black, it should be sticking up just about an inch over the substrate and I'll hide it behind plants. I wonder...I need to put it through the quilt batting and fiberglas screen, can I cut a hole just big enough for it then hot glue the material around it so that it doesn't allow soil to go through around the pipe?

[BCollie]

Oh! And I'm about to cut my fiberglass screen, how many inches should it go up on each side of the tank?

[DigitalPunk]

I cut mine to go 1 to 2 inches up. Usually closer to 1

You don't need to hot glue it but you can.

[BCollie]

Okay, big update!!
The background had it's last coat of polyurethane last night, and I kept a fan on it overnight. By morning you could only slightly smell the poly, and only if your nose was right on the board. The fan did a good job!
Put the background in the tank, added just a little moss(not pictured) then went to class.


Started adding clean river rocks:



Finished adding the rocks(drainage layer):


Added more moss and did a quick hardscape that I really like, that will probably be the final position of the wood on top of the substrate.


My always-trying-to-find-something-to-herd dog staring into the tank, probably wondering where her mini sheep(AKA fish) went...she seems to be under the impression that if she focuses really hard, and stares long enough, something herd-able will appear.



Realized pretty quickly that this large tub wasn't large enough to mix up my substrate in.


So, I brought out an even bigger tub.


Got all the ingredients in, and then mixed them up.




Took my GIANT Golden Pothos out of its little pot and rinsed off soil, then realized it was a ton of clippings all put in one pot. Separated all the clippings as it was the only way to get off all the old soil. Rinsed the roots of really well and gave the leaves a quick rinse...and now it's sitting with its roots in water in a five gallon bucket. It'll be planted tomorrow or the day after, after I get my substrate finished.


And this is how the tank looks right now. Can I start calling it a vivarium yet? It's getting there!


The moss was added with non-toxic hot glue. I'm sure the moss will probably die where it got really hot/burned from the hot glue, but the rest of it should be fine. I put the top back on and will be giving the tank its first misting tonight to help revive the moss. Went out and bought five gallons of distilled water to mist the tank with...let's see how long that lasts me.

[LisaGarcia]

It's beautiful!!

[deranged chipmunk]

It looks fantastic Adri! You did a wonderful job so far!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela